Posted by Larry Gleeson

The 33rd Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) opened last night with a plethora of acting talent. For weeks cinephiles wondered if the festival would take place due to the catastrophic Thomas Fire and the tragic Montecito mudslide. SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling made the decision to hold the festival and allow for the healing process to begin for a fractured community.

The Opening Night Film, the public, followed a group of homeless library patrons who decide to Occupy the library refusing to leave at closing time on a blistering cold winter night. A ragtag group of men, including several military veterans, forced a standoff between the public library and the Cincinnati Prosecuting Attorney.

The festival is in full swing through February 10th offering a full slate of films and film-related programming for an entire spectrum of film appreciation. Tonight’s SBIFF tribute, The Cinema Vanguard Award, will honor Willem Dafoe for his remarkable role in Sean Baker’s The Florida Project, an A24 Films release, which opened in October to critical acclaim. The Tribute will be held at the historic Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Posted by Larry Gleeson.

Given the tragic mudslide in the Santa Barbara/Montecito area questions were abound. Would the film festival take place? Would it be appropriate given the number of evacuees? The answer to both questions is a resounding yes.

Executive Director of the festival, Roger Durling, explained in his opening remarks why he decided to proceed. Given the state of the Santa Barbara community having the largest wildfire in the history of California inundate the area with smoke and ash for days on end only to have a massive torrential downpour dropping over an inch of rain in in a matter of minutes trigger a deadly mudslide burying residents, destroying property and dislocating its inhabitants, even the Opening Night Film’s Writer/Director/actor Emilio Estevez inquired into the status of his film’s screening.

Sharing personal experience, Roger Durling decided to use the magical power of film to bring a state of healing upon the Santa Barbara/Montecito community. Reading all the deceased victims by name, Mr. Durling, preceded each with ” I wear this turquoise ribbon for,” invoking the color’s properties of clarity, calmness and healing. Coincidentally (or not) the Opening Night Film, the public, touched on themes of clarity, calmness and healing as a group of homeless library patrons occupy a Cincinnati public library on a brutally cold night.

Funding from the evening’s sold out event has been earmarked to support the various educational and community outreach programs the Santa Barbara International Film Festival conducts each year including Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies, Apple Box, the Student 10-10-10 Mentorship and Film Competition, the Film Studies Program, and the newest initiative, Summer Film Camp. The 33rd Santa Barbara Film Festival will run through February 10th.

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Saoirse Ronan will receive the prestigious Santa Barbara Award, presented by UGG®, for her critically acclaimed role in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, an A24 release. Given to a person in the entertainment industry who has made a great contribution to film, the award will be presented to her at a ceremony on Sunday, February 4, 2018 at the historic Arlington Theatre.

“In Lady Bird, Saoirse Ronan has once again proven that she is a force of nature and one of her generation’s most exciting young talents,” stated SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. “She embodies her characters with a poignant accuracy and ease every time she appears on screen.”

Ronan’s numerous film credits include The Grand Budapest Hotel, Hanna, The Lovely Bones, and The Way Back. She has received Academy Award® nominations for her performances in Atonement and Brooklyn, and recently was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her performance in Lady Bird.

Past recipients of the award include Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, Bill Condon, and Naomi Watts.

(Source: Press release provided by sbiff.org)

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Gary Oldman is set to receive the Maltin Modern Master Award at the 33^rd annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.  Oldman will be honored for his longstanding contributions to the film industry culminating with Focus Features’ Darkest Hour. Leonard Maltin, for who the award was recently renamed after, will return for his 27^th year to moderate the evening. The award will be presented on Friday, February 2, 2018 at Santa Barbara’s historic Arlington Theatre.

“Gary Oldman has dazzled audiences for decades with an array of brilliant performances,” stated Leonard Maltin. “With Darkest Hour, he has once again proven that he is a force to be reckoned with, and a true master of his craft.

Darkest Hour takes place during the early days of World War II, as the fate of Western Europe hangs on the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Oldman), who must decide whether to negotiate with Hitler, or fight on against incredible odds. Directed by Joe Wright from a screenplay by Anthony McCarten, the film also stars Ben Mendelsohn, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, and Stephen Dillane. Darkest Hour is in theaters November 22, 2017.

The Modern Master Award was established in 1995 and is the highest accolade presented by SBIFF.  Created to honor an individual who has enriched our culture through accomplishments in the motion picture industry, it was re-named the Maltin Modern Master Award in 2015 in honor of long-time SBIFF moderator and renowned film critic Leonard Maltin.  Past recipients include Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Bruce Dern, Ben Affleck, Christopher Plummer, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, Cate Blanchett, Will Smith, George Clooney and Peter Jackson.

(Source: Press release provided by sbiff.org)

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Willem Dafoe will be honored with the 2018 Cinema Vanguard Award at the 33^rd SBIFF, which runs from January 31^st to February 10^th, 2018. The actor will be celebrated for his remarkable role in Sean Baker’s The Florida Project, an A24 Films release, which opened in October to critical acclaim. The Tribute will take place on Thursday, February 1^st at the historic Arlington Theatre.

“Willem Dafoe has brought countless unforgettable characters to the big screen,” stated SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. “His role in The Florida Project perfectly embodies his talent and imagination. It is an honor to celebrate his work with the Cinema Vanguard Award.”

The Cinema Vanguard Award was created in recognition of actors who have forged their own path – taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film. Previous honorees include Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Adams, Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo, Nicole Kidman, Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Stanley Tucci, Peter Sarsgaard, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Ryan Gosling.

(Source: Press release provided by sbiff.org)

Posted by Larry Gleeson

THE EMILIO ESTEVEZ DIRECTED FILM FEATURES STAR-STUDDED CAST

ESTEVEZ, ALEC BALDWIN, JENA MALONE, JEFFREY WRIGHT, AND TAYLOR SCHILLING
Wednesday January 31, 2018 @ 8:00pm
Arlington Theatre

The 33rd Santa Barbara International Film Festival, presented by UGG®, will open with the worldwide premiere of the public at the Arlington Theatre on Wednesday, January 31, 2018. the public, written and directed by Emilio Estevez, stars Estevez, Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Christian Slater, Taylor Schilling, Che “Rhymefest” Smith, Gabrielle Union, Jacob Vargas, Michael K. Williams, and Jeffrey Wright.

“I’ve long admired Emilio Estevez as an artist – actor – director.  With the public – I feel he has done his most personal and fully realized work. the public speaks wonderfully about our current divided country – but it also does not preach – it keeps us cinematically immersed.  I can honestly say this is the proudest choice for opening during my tenure at SBIFF.  I cherish the friendship with Emilio and admire his accomplishment with the public,” stated Roger Durling, Executive Director of SBIFF.

the public follows a group of homeless library patrons, who, after learning that emergency shelters are at capacity during a brutal Midwestern cold front, refuse to leave Cincinnati’s downtown public library at closing time.

In what begins as a nonviolent Occupy sit in and ragtag act of civil disobedience, quickly escalates into a stand-off with local riot police, a no-nonsense crisis negotiator, and a savvy DA with lofty political ambitions.

Amidst dropping temperatures and flaring tempers on both sides of the lockdown, uncertainty looms around how the situation can be resolved without resorting to violence, while law enforcement officials and local media spin the facts to serve their own political agendas.

This David versus Goliath story puts the spotlight on some of our nation’s most challenging issues: homelessness, mental illness, and drug addiction, and sets the drama inside one of our last bastions of democracy-in-action: your public library.

“I’m absolutely delighted, thrilled, and humbled to be chosen by Roger Durling for the great honor of kicking off SBIFF 2018 with the public. Roger’s long standing commitment of supporting independent filmmakers makes the Santa Barbara International Film Festival a vital showcase for artists. Once again, the festival will screen a wide and wonderful variety of distinguished films and our picture has indeed, found itself in some lovely company,” says Emilio Estevez.

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Attention all filmmakers!

The 2018 Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF)’s first, “early bird,” deadline is this Friday, August 4, 2017. The Regular Deadline is Friday September 15, 2017.

Feature Film Submission Fee: $45
Short Film Submission Fee: $35

Submit films here: WithOutaBox

The 2018 festival, SBIFF’s 33rd edition, is scheduled to run January 31- February 10, 2018.

In related news

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has found a new home: the historic Riviera Theatre.

Entry way of the Santa Barbara Riviera Theater. (Photo credit: sbmerge.com)

The Riviera Theatre will allow SBIFF to expand their current slate of education programs, preserve an important historic landmark, and create a cultural hub for all things film. See SBIFF Riviera Project Capital Campaign